argaz

Ghomara

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Berber *r-g-zdeverb.

Proto-Berber *a-răgaz

Ghomara argaz

Inherited from Proto-Berber *a-răgaz (“man”).

Pronunciation

• (Iɛraben) IPA^(key): [ɛɾɡɛz]

Noun

argaz m (plural irgazen)

1. man; husband

Inflection

Inflection of argaz

	singular	plural
free state	argaz	irgazen
annexed state	urgaz	irgazen

References

• Mourigh, Khalid (2015) A Grammar of Ghomara Berber (Thesis)‎^[1], Leiden

Kabyle

Root
r-g-z
1 term

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Berber *r-g-zdeverb.

Proto-Berber *a-răgaz

Kabyle argaz

Inherited from Proto-Berber *a-răgaz (“man”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /arɡaz/

Noun

argaz m (plural irgazen, feminine equivalent targazt)

1. man; husband

Inflection

Inflection of argaz

	singular	plural
free state	argaz	irgazen
annexed state	wergaz	yergazen

References

• Association Culturelle Numidya (2025), “Amawal, dictionnaire kabyle-français en ligne”, in Amawal‎^[2], retrieved 2025
• Dallet, Jean-Marie (1982), Dictionnaire kabyle-français: parler des At Mangellat, Algérie (in French), Paris, France

Senhaja de Srair

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /arɡaz/

Noun

argaz m (plural irgazen, Tifinagh spelling ⴰⵔⴳⴰⵣ)

1. Western form of aryaz

Declension

Inflection of argaz

	singular	plural
free state	argaz	irgazen
annexed state	urgaz	irgazen

Tarifit

Noun

argaz m (plural irgazen, feminine equivalent targast, Tifinagh spelling ⴰⵔⴳⴰⵣ)

1. alternative form of aryaz

Inflection

Inflection of argaz

	singular	plural
free state	argaz	irgazen
annexed state	wargaz, wergaz	yargazen, yergazen

Tashelhit

تيكليت ن يان ورڭاز د تمغارت نّس. (tiklit n yan urgaz d tmɣart nns, “Painting of a man and his wife.”)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Berber *r-g-zdeverb.

Proto-Berber *a-răgaz

Tashelhit argaz

Inherited from Proto-Berber *a-răgaz (“man”), itself derived from a verb meaning "to walk", and hence originally meaning "the one who walks on foot". A parallel development is found in Arabic رَجُل (rajul, “man”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /arɡaz/

Noun

argaz m (plural irgazn, Tifinagh spelling ⴰⵔⴳⴰⵣ, Arabic spelling آرڭاز)

1. man (adult male human)

   Synonym: arjli

2. (by extension) husband

Inflection

Inflection of argaz

	singular	plural
free state	argaz	irgazn
annexed state	urgaz	irgazn

Derived terms

• argaz n dar uḍar (“messenger”)
• irgazn n id matsn (“stepfathers”)
• tirrugza (“virility, manhood”)

See also

• afgan (“human”)
• afrux (“boy”)
• amɣar (“chieftain”)
• tamɣart (“woman”)
• zzigz (“to walk”)

References

• Stroomer, Harry (2025), Dictionnaire berbère tachelḥiyt-français — Tome 1 A–E (Handbook of Oriental Studies – Handbuch der Orientalistik; 188/1) (in French), Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, →DOI, →ISBN, page 382b